| Director | J. A. Bayona |
|---|---|
| Genre | disaster film, drama film, thriller film |
| Runtime | 113 min |
| Country | Spain |
| Budget | $45 million |
| Box office | $198.1 million |
In December 2004, Dr. Maria Bennett, her husband Henry, and their three sons — Lucas, Thomas, and Simon — go on holiday to Khao Lak, Thailand. Arriving on Christmas Eve, they settle in and begin to enjoy the new Orchid Beach Resort. Two days later, the Indian Ocean tsunami inundates the area. Maria and Lucas manage to survive the deluge by clinging to debris, though Maria sustains serious injuries to her leg and chest. They help a toddler, Daniel, and are soon found by locals who transfer them to a hospital in the city of Takua Pa. Daniel is separated from them during the journey. At the hospital, Maria encourages Lucas to help others find their family members while she goes into surgery.
Meanwhile, Henry and the two younger boys have also survived and are together. Henry leaves Simon and Thomas with another family who are then taken to the mountains for safety by local relief crews. Henry stays behind to search for Maria and Lucas in the rubble. While out looking, injured and alone, he is picked up by a passer-by and driven to a nearby bus station with other survivors.
Communication facilities are scarce but a German tourist named Karl, who has also been separated from his family, lends Henry his cell phone. Henry calls Maria's father and promises him that he will look everywhere for Maria and Lucas. Karl volunteers to accompany Henry in his search and to look for his own family, who were at the beach when the tsunami hit.
While Maria is in surgery, her medical chart is mixed up with that of a woman named Muriel Barnes, who has died. Lucas returns to find his mother's bed empty and is then taken to a tent where children without families are kept safe. He assumes his mother is dead and is devastated by that. The mistake is discovered when Lucas cannot identify any of the dead woman's jewelry and he is subsequently reunited with his mother, who had been moved to a private room in the ICU. While he waits in the hospital, Lucas sees Daniel, who has been reunited with his father. Henry and Karl search for their families in various places before they arrive at the hospital, where Henry is given five minutes to look. Karl gives him a piece of paper with the names of his family members.
A vehicle carrying Simon and Thomas also stops outside the hospital and the boys get off so Simon can urinate. From a distance, Lucas recognizes his father and while searching for him in the chaotic crowd outside, Lucas's brothers spot him and they reunite. Henry finds the three of them together. He learns that Maria remains in the hospital, ready to undergo more surgery for her leg. As the anesthesia puts her to sleep, Maria experiences flashbacks of how she came to be injured and how she surfaced the water. While she is in surgery, Lucas tells Henry he has something really important to tell Maria.
The following day, the family boards an ambulance airplane to Singapore so Maria may receive further medical treatment. On the plane, Lucas tells his mother that he saw Daniel reunited with his father at the hospital. Maria looks out the window and cries quietly at the devastation below them.